The former commanding officer of the warship USS John S. McCain, Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez, pleaded guilty to a single charge of negligence for his role in the incident. He was sentenced to a punitive letter of reprimand and forfeiture of $6,000 in pay.
As part of an agreement to plead guilty, Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez admitted he did not set the proper watch team for the busy shipping lane the ship was entering, or take proper action when the bridge crew lost control of the ship because of a poor understanding of the helm controls.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
Mr. Sanchez was sentenced to a punitive letter of reprimand and forfeiture of $6,000 in pay. As part of the agreement, he has requested to retire, and that request will be allowed or denied later in the proceedings. The results of the court-martial also put a federal misdemeanor on his record.
Before the plea agreement, Alfredo J. Sanchez could have faced more serious charges including negligent homicide and hazarding a vessel, which could have resulted in jail time. However, the US Navy dropped its charge for negligent homicide against the former commanding officer of the warship
Mr. Sanchez admitted he acted against the recommendation of his operations officer, navigator and executive officer, who had advised him to set McCain’s sea and anchor detail as the ship was entering the heavily traveled Singapore traffic separation. A ship’s sea and anchor detail include a US warship’s most experienced ship handlers that are put on the watch bill when the ship enters difficult operating areas. Instead, Sanchez ordered the more experienced watch team to get an extra hour of sleep and said he would supervise the less experienced crew on the bridge.
During the transit, a change in settings on the ship’s new digital integrated bridge and navigation system caused the 18-year-old helmsman to lose control of the warship when the steering function was transferred to another terminal on the bridge, the US Navy informed.
USS John S. McCain collided with the chemical tanker ‘Alnic MC’ on 21 August 2017 in the Straits of Singapore and resulted in the deaths of 10 sailors.
Earlier in May, Lieutenant junior grade Sarah B. Coppock pleaded guilty on a single criminal charge for her role in the collision between the warship USS Fitzgerald and the container ship ‘ACX Crystal’ off Japan in June 2017, that claimed the lives of seven US navy sailors. She was sentenced to three months reduced pay and was issued a punitive reprimand.